Pregnant deportee from Bengal returns to India Sunali Khatun, arrested by Delhi Police on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi and deported in June, was repatriated via Malda border, following SC directive. Sunali, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was a migrant resident of Murarai in West Bengal’s Birbhum. She was admitted to the Rampurhat hospital in Birbhum, where she will remain under observation. “It was a torture living in a solitary cell of the Bangladeshi prison,” she said, recounting her hundred days at a correctional facility in Bangladesh. thrissur l sunday l december 07, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Maintaining pricing discipline T i c k e t ava i l a b i l i t y The objective is to maintain pricing discipline, prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress, and ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel are not subjected to financial hardship, the Union govt said Up to 500 km R7,500 500-1,000 km R12,000 Fare caps exclude User Development Fee, Passenger Development Fee & other taxes 1,000-1,500 km R15,000 They do not cover Business class tickets and flights operated under UDAN scheme R o a d c o l l a p se i n K o l l a m Airlines must maintain ticket availability across all fare buckets. They may increase capacity on high-demand sectors, govt said Pinarayi says NHAI responsible; contract firm barred for 1 month over 1,500 km R18,000 Ticket price before fare cap kicked in E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e No clarity yet on whether the caps for economy class tickets apply for premium economy as well @Thrissur/Kollam Govt caps fares, wields whip IndiGo CEO gets DGCA show-cause notice; 800 cancellations on Sat; ticket refund by Sun S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi SIr parties say extended time-frame ‘inadequate’ Parties, except BJP, have demanded further extension of enumeration deadline at least till end of December| P5 WITH THIS ISSUE Looming Large PLUS 12 P AGES The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday stepped in to address the greed of some airlines exploiting the IndiGo mess as fares went beyond 8X on some sectors. It imposed strict caps on domestic fares with the maximum of `18,000 for an economy class ticket. Later in the day the , Director General of Civil Aviation slapped a show-cause notice on IndiGo’s CEO to respond within 24 hours why action should not be taken against him for the massive chaos. The ministry also directed IndiGo to clear all pending passenger refunds for all cancelled or disrupted flights by 8 pm on Sunday 7 December. , The fare cap of `7,500-18,000 (see graphic) prescribed by the ministry was still on the higher side, with fliers being made to pay for the needless chaos. These caps will remain in place “until fares stabilise or till further review”, the ministry said. The caps exclude levies like User Development Fee, Passenger Development Fee and other Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations - Ministry of Civil Aviation’s order A passenger rests while waiting at Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport for her flight, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI taxes. They do not cover Business class tickets and flights operated under the regional connectivity scheme (UDAN), the order stated. As for refunding, the ministry cautioned that any delay or non-compliance by Indigo would l invite immediate regulatory action. The system of automatic refunds will remain active until operations stabilise completely . Indigo quickly responded with a “No questions asked. All refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment.“ The airline also announced full waiver on all can- cellations/reschedule requests of bookings made between December 5 and December 15. In another directive, the ministry directed IndiGo to ensure that all baggage that was separated from passengers due to cancellations or delays be traced and delivered to each passenger’s residential or chosen address within 48 hours. IndiGo for the first time obliquely quantified the day’s cancellations — around 800. “By the end of day, we would have operated over 1,500 flights. With regards to destinations, over 95% of network connectivity has already been re-established as we are able to operate to 135 out of the existing 138 destinations in operations. There is a recovery IndiGo said. ,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take full responsibility for the incident in which a section of the under-construction NH 66 stretch caved in near Kottiyam in Kollam. Stating that the Kerala gover nment and public works department has no role in NH work, Pinarayi said: “Construction of NH 66 is fully monitored by NHAI. They have their own system for it.” “The portion of the road that was destroyed should be reconstructed properly he said at the Meet,” the-Press programme at the Thrissur Press Club. He said the state government and public works department were helpless in the matter, other than seeking NHAI’s intervention. Meanwhile, the Union government has taken strict action against the contracting company— Sivalaya The service road that was damaged following NH collapse near Kottiyam Constructions —responsible for NH development on Kollam-Mylakkad stretch. According to NHAI sources, the firm has been barred for one month from participating in any contracting processes. A show-cause notice has also been issued, asking why the company should not be permanently blacklisted for the lapse, said a source. The project manager and resident engineer appointed by the contractor have been removed from their positions. Speaking in Thrissur, Pinarayi said: “Usually, when a road is being constructed, NHAI is in charge of everything right from design. We cannot interfere in such as● More on P5 pects.”  E X P R E S S R E AD HC restrains police from arresting Rahul until Dec 15 Kochi: The High Court on Saturday restrained the police from arresting Rahul Mamkootathil until December 15 in a rape case registered against him. Meanwhile, a court in Thiruvananthapuram accepted Rahul’s anticipatory bail plea in a second rape case, but refused to grant him interim protection from arrest till the bail plea is heard on Monday. P5